Secondary electric clock.



PATENTED AUG. 11, 190s.

P. F. LANDIS. SECONDARY ELECTRIC CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 11, 1906.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK F. LANDIS, OF WAYNESBOBO, PENNSYLVANIA.

SECONDARY ELECTRIC CLOCK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK F. LANDIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVaynesboro, in the county of Franklin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Secondary Electric Clocks, of which the follow ing is a specification.

My said invention consists in certain improvements in the details of construction and arrangement of parts of secondary clocks for electric clock systems, whereby such a clock is provided in which the use of all springs is eliminated, the train prevented from raising while the hold back pawl is disengaged, the operation made certain, and the minimum power required for operating it all as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which are made a part hereof, and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a rear view of a train of clock gearing and operating mechanism embodying my said invention, Fig. 2 a detail horizontal section, and Fig. 3 a front elevation of the same with the frame work indicated by dotted lines.

In said drawings the portions marked A represent the frame, B the ratchet or driving wheel of the dial train, 0 C, two parts of a compound lever carrying the pawls and verge for operating the ratchet wheel, and D the electro magnets.

The frame A is a skeletoncasting of suitable form to support the different parts pro vided with suitable erforations a, 0/ and 0?, by which it may be 'astened by screws to the back side of the clock face. It has rearwardly projectin transverse arms a to which a horizonta bar A is secured by means of screws a The arbor 1 is journaled at its rear end in a bearing in said bar A and its forward end projects through a perforation in the frame A and is provided on its front end with a shoulder to receive the minute hand while the sleeve 4 thereon carries the hour hand, the parts being connected by the usual form of dial train in the well known manner to the ratchet wheel B.

The ratchet wheel B is mounted upon the arbor 1 being secured to rotate therewith by means of a spring clutch b interposed be- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 11, 1906. Serial No. 334,174.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908.

tween the face of said ratchet wheel and the hub b on a thumb wheelB, which is rigidly secured on said arbor. The arms of said spring clutch I) bear with suflicient force against the side ofsaid ratchet wheel B to drive the arbor and the train of gearing, while it will also permit the turning of the arbor by hand by means of the thumb-wheel B while the ratchet wheel is locked, when it is desired to do so for the purpose of setting the hands or adjust the relation of the parts.

The lever C is mounted upon a pivot or rock-shaft 0, one end of which is supported in the bar A and the other end in the frame A. An armature C is rigidly secured on the lower end of said lever. Its upper end is connected by a link C with the upper end of lever C by means of pivots c and c Said armatureG is preferablyofaweighttocounterbalance the weight of lever C on the opposite side of pivot c and the verge bar 0 and link C carried thereby, so that the magnets will have no weight to lift but that of the lever C and parts carried thereby. Said lever C is mounted on a rock-shaft or pivot c which is mounted in bearings in the frame A and bar A. Said lever C is of substantially the form shown and has a driving pawl C mounted on a pivot c midway of its length and near the angle of its upper edge. Another holding pawl C is mounted on a pivot 0 near the pivot or rock-shaft 0 or at a suitable point on the frame, if preferred. The verge consists of two transversely projecting pallets c and a mounted on the bar C which is pivoted at its upper end to the lever C about midway of its length on a pivot which is preferably the base of the pallets. Said bar C is curved, as shown, to pass around the arbor 1 and gear 2 thereon to bring the pallet c on its opposite end directly opposite the pallet c on the ratchet wheel B. Its lower end is formed with an oval-shaped notch which engages a pin a set in a stud on the frame A in appropriate position. The pallets are formed with wedgeshaped inner adjacent edges, which edges are a little less distance apart than the outer diameter of the ratchetwheel so that before the pallet c has moved out of the path of the teeth of the wheel the pallet c has moved into that path, preventing any ossibility of the wheel racing ahead, in whic event pawl C would take more than one tooth. I/Vhen this would happen the clock would gain one minute, a common occurrence where such precaution as the use of the verge is not provided.

It will be noticed by referring particularly to Fig. 1 that the pivots c, c and c are nor mally in line with each other and that the upper end of lever C extends to a position under the upper end of lever C to permit the link C to lie in line with said pivots for a purpose to be presently described.

The magnets D are of ordinary form and construction supported upon a suitable bracket A on the frame A, and a shunt coil D may also be provided, supported upon a suitable bracket A for the well known purpose. Line wires w and w run to the source of electric supply.

The operation of my said invention is as follows :-IVhen the parts are in the position shown by whole lines in Fig. 1, the mechanism and hands of the clock are at rest. hen the circuit is closed by the master clock in the well known manner, and the magnet D energized, the armature C is attracted to the polls of said magnets and the levers C C and the link C are raised to the position shown by dotted lines. At the beginning of the movement said link C lying in a position at right angles with the lever C, the start is very slow and but little power is required, while as the movement continues the angle increases and at the same time the power increases by reason of the narrowing of the field between the armature and magnets until the parts are brought to the position shown by dotted lines. As lever C is raised by its operation the pallet c is lifted out of engagement with the front of the tooth on the ratchet wheel B with which it has been engaged and the pallet c on the opposite side of the wheel B is brought into engagement with the back of the tooth, directly opposite, permitting the movement of said wheel just one tooth at each step but no more. After the lever has been raised and the electric circuit broken, lever C by reason of its weight falls down carrying the other parts with it and through the pawl C engaging with the back of a tooth on said ratchet wheel, forcing said ratchet wheel for ward. Pawl C at the same time rides over the top of one of said teeth and falls behind it so that during the neXt operation of raising the lever and dragging awl C over the top of the next tooth, sai pawl C holds said wheel from backward movement and keeps the parts in fixed relative positions. The oval-shaped notch in the lower end of verge bar C permits said end of said bar to have a slightly vibratory motion and pallet c to free itself from the back of the tooth during the downward movement of the levers, without causing any binding between the parts. A stop pin 29 is provided above lever C to limit its upward movement to the point desired and similar stop pins p and 79 are inserted in lever C above the pawls C" and C to prevent them from falling backward too far, or in any manner getting out of operative position.

A weight I/V as shown in Fig. 3 may be attached to the lever C to furnish additional driving power, if necessary, as in cases where the secondary clock is to be provided with large and heavy hands, which would require considerable power to carry them. during the upward half of their movement around the dial, but ordinarily the lever itself may be of the weight required. By this arrangement a very simple construction of mechanism for the purpose is provided and one which will operate without the use of springs or lubrica tion, and as no part requires any attention after once adjusted it will run for a long time with but slight care. A simple, durable and positively operating clock is thus provided.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a secondary electric clock, the combination, of the frame, the dial train, comrising a ratchet wheel, electro magnets, a Fever rovided with an armature adjacent to saicf magnets, another lever pivoted on the op osite side of the frame, the inner ends of said two levers being pivotally connected by a link, the pivots in the two ends of said link being normally substantially in line with the pivot of the armature lever, and driving pawl mounted on said lever, sub stantially as set forth.

2. In a secondary electric clock, the combination, of the frame, the dial train, the magnets, a lever carrying the armature pivoted adjacent to said magnets, another lever pivoted on the opposite side of the frame, the adjacent ends of said levers being pivotally connected by a link, the driving pawl mounted on said levers and adapted to engage with and operate the ratchet wheel of the dial train, substantially as set forth.

3. In a secondary electric clock, the combination of the frame, the dial train, the magnets, the operating mechanism for said dial train comprising pivoted levers carrying pawls engaging with the ratchet wheel of said dial train, one of said levers carrying an armature adapted to be operated by said magnets, the two levers being connected at their inner ends by a link, substantially as set forth.

4. In a secondary electric clock, the com bination of the frame, the dial train carried thereby, the magnets, and means for operating said dial train through said magnets comprismg two levers pivoted at thc1r outer ends and connected at theirzinner ends by a link one of said levers carrying the armature and the other having the weight for operating reversely to the power of the magnets, substantially as set forth.

5. In a secondary clock, the combination, of the frame, the dial train carried thereby, the magnets, means for operating said dial through said magnets comprising two levers pivoted at the outer ends and connected at their inner ends by a link, one of said levers connected to the armature and balanced upon its pivot, the other lever carrying a driving pawl engaging with the ratchet wheel of said dial train, said leverbeing of sufiicient weight to operate the clock'reversely to the power of the magnets, and a verge lever moving in unison with the armature lever, substantially as set forth.

6. In a secondary clock, the combination, of the frame, the dial train, the magnets, the operating mechanism for said dial train comprising pivoted levers one of which carries the operating pawl and verge on one side of its pivot and an armature on its other side adapted to balance the same, and the other lever connected to said first lever by a link and having the weight for operating reversely to said magnets, substantially as set forth.

7. In a secondary clock, the combination, of the frame, the dial train, the magnets, the armature mounted on one end of a pivoted lever adjacent to said magnets, the operating pawl and .verge bar mounted on said lever on the opposite side of its pivot to balance said armature, said verge bar extending across the ratchet wheel with a pallet near each end adapted to engage with teeth of said ratchet wheel upon its opposite side, the inner edges of said pallets being a distance apart a little less than the extreme diameter of said ratchet wheel, and the other lever connected to said first lever by a pivot connection and having the weight adapted to operate reversely to said magnets,

substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, I, have hereunto set my hand and seal at Washington, D. LC. this 28th day of August, A. D. nineteen hundred and siX.

FRANK F. LANDIS. 

